


Follow Your Dreams

by Braincoins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura as a (non-Mad) scientist, Altean Alchemy, Dream Sex, F/M, I hate forming Voltron in fic and yet I KEEP WRITING IT, Mind Meld, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, why do I do this to myself?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: Allura tries an alchemical experiment to see if she can track someone she's attuned to. She attunes to Shiro. And... something goes... wrong? Is it just because Shiro's not Altean or is there something... more going on?
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 44





	Follow Your Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> At long last, the dreamsharing Shallura fic I've been teasing! Hope it's worth the wait.
> 
> Thanks to [mckinlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mckinlily/pseuds/mckinlily) for the beta!  
> ================

Shiro addressed the little screen that had popped up. “You sent for me, Princess?”

Her face on the screen smiled and nodded. “Yes. Come in.” And the door opened.

Shiro entered slowly, taking in the full sight of what had been King Alfor’s lab. Two semi-circle tables facing each other, a walkway between them, and each full of bottles and beakers and capped petri dishes – at least, that’s what he would have characterized each of these things as. Some of the containers were full of liquids or powders or strange objects he couldn’t begin to identify.

And above each table were floating shelves of books and boxes. He had no idea how they stayed on the shelves when the Castle took a hit – maybe they didn’t? – but for now they looked stable as they hovered. There were more traditional shelves built into the walls either side of the door he’d just walked through. The other walls were covered with charts and posters, blueprints and planning documents. He recognized something that looked like a slightly reordered (and expanded) periodic table; another was an outline of an Altean body, he assumed, the different parts labeled (it's not like he could read it).

Allura was standing between the two tables, and she was still smiling as she waved him closer. “I need you for an experiment.”

He’d been about to join her but stopped just shy of the tables. “What sort of experiment?”

She chuckled. “It won’t hurt.”

He asked again, “What is it?” but he was already moving forward. He trusted Allura, he was just curious.

“It’s a simple attunement first, and then turning it into a tracer.”

He didn’t know what the first part meant but… “You’re going to track me? Can’t the Castle do that?”

“Yes, when you’re in or near the Castle or in the Black Lion. But with this _I_ can track you. It could be useful for finding lost paladins,” which happened often enough, especially when Keith hared off after something, “or if we had a prisoner, I could trace them if they escaped. We could trace Blade members aboard a Galra ship… Really, anyone, so long as I’m able to attune to them first.”

He nodded. “Could be very useful.”

“I just need to practice to be certain I can do it properly. I’ve gotten good at attuning myself to the extant energies of the cosmos, but I’m not really used to attuning to another person. And even if it’s simple to pull off, I’d like to see how long I can keep it up.”

“I could go out in Black, too,” he suggested, “to see how far you can track.”

“Ooh, yes, good addition!” Her smile widened. “You see, this is why I chose you for the test. And, also, everyone else is busy.”

He laughed. “Lance would have loved a rescue from cleaning duty.”

“Yes, and he would have doubtless made some more of those terrible comments while he was in here,” she replied, mouth twisting briefly in distaste. “He’s a good person, a good paladin, but… well, anyway, let’s just get on with the experiment, shall we?”

“And it doesn’t hurt, right?” he teased her.

But she answered sincerely, “It doesn’t hurt.” Then paused and added, “If I do it right.”

“Okay, _now_ I’m getting a little worried.”

“Shiro, I…”

“…would never hurt me,” he finished. “I know, Princess.”

She smiled, and maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw the marks under her eyes glow a little. “Thank you. Your end is simple. Stand still until I tell you otherwise. I’m going to lay my hand against your forehead and close my eyes. You might feel a tingle, but that should be all.”

He nodded. “Ready when you are.”

She smiled and reached her right hand up towards his face. He closed his eyes. The heel of her hand rested on the bridge of his nose, her palm warm against her forehead. Her skin wasn’t _quite_ as soft as he’d thought it would be, but then again, she’d apparently been fighting training drones since she was a child. She was a warrior princess, not a ‘sit on my throne all day’ sort of royal.

Princess Allura was everything he’d ever dreamed of when it came to alien princesses. Or women. Or just people in general. She was brave, determined, strong, gorgeous, and sexy as hell. And he’d never known anyone who could look at a nigh-immortal tyrant who had conquered nearly the entire universe and ruled for ten thousand years and say, “I’m going to fight.” That was more than mere bravery, more than righteousness, more than justice, that… that was _hope_.

Shiro hadn’t had hope since the Galra had captured him.

Princess Allura was this bright, shining, _fierce_ hope, and the fire of it warmed him and kept him going, even in the coldest parts of deep space, even when their fight looked doomed.

She wasn’t the only one, of course: he had the team, he had Black and Voltron… but then he only had those because of Allura. The team, the Lions, this destiny that gave him purpose, that made his continued existence worth something…

… _don’t think like that again._ He fought the demons in his mind that whispered of what a monster he must have been and possibly still was. He called them liars and spat in their faces, but they were still there.

_I’m the Black Paladin_. _Because of her. Because of Allura._

And then there was the strangest feeling, like… something in his soul made a _click_ sound? He didn’t know how to describe it. It felt like a joining. It wasn’t like when he’d bonded with Black, because that was so much more than this, but this felt like two links in a chain had just been connected somehow. He was still separate from whatever had been attached to him, but there was no denying the fact they were joined now.

And it felt warm, like he was near a fireplace, warming himself after a day out in the snow.

Her hand left his head. He felt a little cold, more in need of that warmth than ever. “How’s that?” she asked.

He opened his eyes. “I feel fine.” He smiled at her and described the joining sensation as best he could.

Her mouth twisted again. “Hmm, that doesn’t _sound_ right? But then Altean alchemy has never been attempted on an Earthling before. Maybe this is just how it feels to your people.”

“Well, let’s test.” He grinned. “Let’s play hide and seek.”

From the tilt of her head, she didn’t know the game. But she was clever. “A game where one must find something hidden?” she guessed.

“Find _someone_ hidden,” he corrected, still grinning. “You give me time to hide somewhere in the Castle – no fair using _any_ of your locating methods during that time! – and then you try to find me, with only your alchemy.”

She brightened. “Yes, excellent! What do I get when I win?”

“ _IF_ you win,” he corrected, “what would you like?”

She bit her lip in thought. _She looks so cute when she does that._

“What was that?” she asked.

“What was what? I didn’t say anything.”

“Oh.” She shook her head. “Anyway, _when_ I win,” she grinned at him, “you give the mice their next bath.”

“Got it. If you can’t find me using alchemy, I win,” he told her. “If you have to resort to the Castle’s locator, that’s cheating.”

“And what do you get if the unlikely should happen and you win?” she asked.

“Hmm.” _A date. A kiss!_ He shoved those thoughts away. Allura – _Princess_ Allura – was a beacon of hope, a symbol of perseverance and courage, a light in the darkness. Subjecting her to something as crass as that seemed a sacrilege. “How about you bake some more of those cookies?”

She blinked. “Which cookies?”

“Those ones you made last month,” he reminded her, “that were light, a little spongey, sweet and just a _little_ tart?”

“Oh! The _terycia!_ ” She smiled. “You liked them?”

He nodded. “They were delicious. I’d love some more.”

“Then it’s a deal: my win, you give the mice their bath; your win, you get _terycia_.”

“Count to one hundred _slowly_ ,” he said. “I only have that long to find a good hiding spot.”

She giggled. “This will be fun _and_ effective testing! I wish all my alchemical studies were this amusing.”

“Close your eyes,” he told her, smiling despite himself, “and count. Slowly.”

She smiled back at him before doing as he’d said. She started saying short Altean words in a somewhat monotonous tone, so he assumed that was counting. He turned, lost a few precious counts to the door having to open, and then he was off like a shot.

He knew heading for the Black Lion was pointless: even if he could reach it in time, she’d suspect that. She wouldn’t need any alchemical tracker to find him. He ran, taking random corridors until he felt he was well enough away to stop for a tick or two, then he brought up a map of the Castle. _Somewhere nearby but that she wouldn’t expect…_ He found a good target and headed for it. Once there, he hunkered down in a reasonable hiding spot and waited.

It took a couple of minutes – or doboshes – but then he… felt something. Like he could feel her drawing nearer to him, almost like he could hear her footsteps but without using his ears. Something in him knew she was coming this way, and it was impossible to dismiss as paranoia.

The door opened and she walked in, looked around briefly, then walked straight up to his hiding spot. “Good choice,” she said as he stood up. “You were correct: I wouldn’t have thought to look for you in the manufactory.” She gestured to the machinery around them.

But her word choice was… strange. “You knew I was coming here?”

His question seemed to surprise her. “Oh. I… I _did_.” Her brow furrowed in thought, casting back. “It’s like I could almost hear you deciding where to go at one point.”

“Is that how the tracker is supposed to work?”

“No, not at all.” She bit her lower lip in thought.

He cleared his throat. “Well, what if I don’t know where I’m going?”

“How would we accomplish that?”

“Have Coran and the team blindfold me and take me somewhere.”

“Oh! That could work. Though, let’s just have the paladins take you; I want Coran with me, distracting me so my thoughts aren’t on trying to track you while you’re still ‘in transit,’ as it were.”

“Good idea. Let’s get everyone gathered together and try that.”

The paladins were a little _too_ happy to take part in this “testing,” and Coran decided this was the perfect opportunity to recite an epic poem he’d been working on.

But once again, Allura found Shiro. “You keep mental track of turns and distances,” she told him. “So it was like _I_ was keeping track.”

“My poem on the exquisite substructure of triolic gluons didn’t help at all?” Coran asked.

“Uh… no.” She cleared her throat. “No, it didn’t. But, in any case, we should still test the other parameters, such as distance tracking and overall drain on my energy. It’s just a small mistake in the attunement, after all.”

“Small mistakes often cause the largest problems,” Pidge observed.

“The _instant_ you become aware of the drain, you should disconnect,” Coran put in. “You’re tired enough already.”

“Yes, yes,” she huffed.

“I know you don’t like it when you feel Coran is being overprotective,” Shiro said carefully, not wanting to set the advisor off, “but he’s right. We can’t risk draining you too badly. That being said, learning how quickly and how much it drains is vital information, too. If it’s too ‘expensive’ in terms of her energy reserves, it should be saved for very important – and hopefully short-term – uses, but we won’t know that without these experiments.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you, Shiro, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Let me decide when to deactivate the tracker,” she told Coran, “and I do promise to be careful about it. Despite what you might think, I do know _when_ to be reckless.”

He snorted but gave a dutiful, “Yes, Princess,” in response.

“Thank you all for helping us test,” she said to the rest of the team. “We might do another drill like this at some point, but perhaps you could pick someplace _other_ than my bedchambers to drag him to?”

Keith shrugged. “It was the first place we could all agree on.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, pretty much immediately.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “This wasn’t for a prank, it’s for testing. If we do this again, you guys should pick somewhere she’s less familiar with. And you also should not be invading the princess’s quarters without permission.”

“We had permission, sort of,” Hunk pointed out. “She _said_ we could take you anywhere in the Castle.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Pidge interjected. “We wouldn’t drag him back to the same room again.”

“Okay,” Shiro said. “So long as we’re all clear.”

“In fact,” she continued, “the best way to do this would be to do it much more like an actual kidnapping, when Shiro doesn’t expect it. Going purely by testing protocols, we’d do a surprise ‘kidnap’ once with him awake and once where he’s unconscious, but…”

“We’re not knocking Shiro unconscious,” Keith interrupted, folding his arms.

“Exactly,” she said.

“Still, given the nature of the… the glitch, I suppose you’d say… that I’m experiencing, Shiro not being awake would be useful.” Allura shifted uneasily. “I’m just not sure how to do it without hurting or alarming him.”

“There’s plenty of ways to put him to sleep,” Coran put in.

“Dude, don’t say it like that!” Lance yelped. “He’s not a sick dog!”

“What’s a dog and what does that have to do with anything?” Coran asked.

Shiro felt sick to his stomach but couldn’t deny the fact that it _would_ be good data. This glitch aside, it would be good to know that they could track someone who wasn’t awake. “How about this?” he suggested. “I’m okay with being ‘surprised’ at some point while I’m awake. We can arrange a planned test for the unconscious one. Maybe when I’m already asleep, I can be given something to help me _stay_ asleep for the duration of the test. I’m willing to trust Allura, Coran, and Altean medical technology in general.” _And, hell, I could use a decent night’s sleep_.

“That could work,” Allura replied. “We do have medicinal sleep aids. We could give you one before the test; it should help you get to sleep and keep you out for a few hours, at least.”

“That’d be fine.” Better than the idea of laying on a table, the mask going over his nose and mouth, the rancid smell of the gas and the Galra grinning down at him just before he…

“Are you alright?” Keith was at his elbow suddenly.

“I’m fine. I just… need to rest for a bit. Uh, I’ll give the mice a bath whenever you say, Princess. Fair’s fair. Excuse me.” And he pushed past them, leaving them all behind and wishing he could flee some of these memories as easily.

Today hadn’t been bad, just… strange. Allura hadn’t expected the tracker link to work this way, or, at least, to have this strange side effect. And then Shiro had just… withdrawn suddenly from them all. She watched him go, and it was almost as if she could _feel_ the uneasiness in him; looking back on the discussion they’d been having, she thought she could understand why. Discussions of kidnapping and knocking him out? After what he’d been through? No wonder he’d come up with an excuse and just… fled from them all. Still, it made her heart ache for him, for all that he’d suffered through. She wished there was something – anything – she could do to help him, to let him know that he wasn’t alone anymore, that she would never let him be hurt again if she could help it.

But such thoughts, while kind, weren’t going to win a war, nor keep the Castle going. She had duties to tend to, as everyone else did, and it seemed as if they were quite definitely done with testing for today. She dismissed the paladins and headed for the bridge with Coran.

He was sure his sudden departure was confusing to the princess – _very_ sure, actually, almost as if he could feel it – but sometimes what little snippets of memory he had left surged up out of nowhere. It was almost a feeling of nausea, if it could be centered in the mind instead of the gut. He hadn’t figured out what to do it about besides lay down somewhere quiet, dark, and private.

Usually, the memories and their associated horrible “what if?”s washed over him when he did this, and he focused on just letting them pass and keeping himself afloat, not letting them pull him down into the darkness and drown in his own fears. Sometimes he could distract himself by thinking of something more pleasant: particularly happy memories back on Earth or… well, sometimes he fantasized about possible futures.

_“Possible,”_ he thought to himself sarcastically as he made his way back to his room. _Possible but unlikely_. That’s why they were fantasies. But still, fantastical futures or happy histories were better than just trying to survive the present. If it worked. It didn’t always. But it was worth a shot.

Just as he reached the door to his room, he felt a sort of… tranquility wash over him, unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him on a hot summer’s day, and while it was sudden and shocking, it was also a welcome refreshment. It felt… like the feeling he’d get sometimes when Allura smiled. A sense that, somehow, despite all the obstacles in their way, everything would be alright. He actually looked around quickly, to see if she’d followed him, if she were here, in this hallway, smiling at him. But, of course, he was alone.

He entered the empty room, let the door whisper shut behind him. He felt out of place here, his mind still trying to delve back into tenebrous torments, but he was…soothed, somehow. He stretched and eyed his bunk. He _had_ said he was going to rest, and he wasn’t sure what else to do. _I don’t get much sleep as is. Better to get it if I can_. So he sat down on the edge of the mattress, pulled his shoes off, unbuckled his belt, unzipped his vest. He set them all down neatly, nearby, and then laid down on the bunk, facing out into the rest of the room. He closed his eyes. That sudden feeling of tranquility weighed him down like a wet blanket, and he was out before he knew it.

~*~*~Princess Allura, in a long sort of slip, showing off neck and shoulders and arms, even a little décolletage. Hair long and loose, flowing down her back. She smiled when she saw him, walked over to him.

He slid his hands around her waist, feeling the silkiness of the light blue fabric over the steel of her strong body. She gasped in surprise just before he pressed his lips against hers, but then her arms returned his embrace as she returned his kiss. She was warm in his arms, so warm, and when he pulled away to say so, she took his lips again, silencing him. He didn’t mind.

_This must be a dream_ and as he thought it, he realized it was. Of course it was a dream, this could never be reality. But it was a dream, and it was _his_ dream. _Don’t wake up yet_ , he silently bid himself as he deepened the kiss.

His dream princess guided him to her bed, pushed him into sitting on the edge of it, then straddled his lap, looped her arms around his neck, and resumed kissing him. He stroked her hair and her skin, felt her and heard her moan against his mouth. They didn’t do anything but hold each other, touch each other, and kiss deeply, but it was enough. It was more than enough, it was more than he could ever really have, and…~*~*~

…and he woke up both happy and a little disappointed. Normally only his night terrors were so vivid, so _real_ , and to have a lucid dream be pleasant was a nice change of pace. Rather than clawing his way out of sleep, he’d wanted to stay there longer.

He checked the time. It was late, past dinner. “A bit” had turned into way more. He decided he could do with some more rest, especially if he got to go back to such a nice dream. It was a rare experience for him nowadays. He rolled over and closed his eyes, hoping to find her waiting for him again.

Allura had gotten so lost in a daydream that, when Coran distracted her and told her to go to bed, she relented with less fuss than usual. She’d just been standing at her command station on the bridge, going over some last-minute things, and then… well, and then a very pleasant daydream had overtaken her for a few doboshes. Maybe longer than that, judging by Coran’s expression.

But if she were this easily distracted, she should get some sleep. And she hoped she could pick up where her daydream had left off.

She put on her regular nightgown – not the risqué one she’d been wearing in the daydream – and curled up on her pillow, the mice nearby. She yawned and closed her eyes. Normally this was where a hundred different things would surge up to meet her mind: battle plans and mission objectives and diplomatic entreaties; snippets of things she’d read or heard or seen that she needed to remember to work on or investigate further; worries, anxieties, and… fears.

But tonight, she was looking forward to resuming the dream. _Now where was I…?_

~*~*~Shiro without his vest, the shirt nearly painted onto his broad shoulders and strong arms. Sitting beneath her, hands on her skin, tracing her markings with a look of awe. She shivered lightly as metal fingertips brushed softly over one near her collarbone.

She ran her own hands from his shoulders down over his chest and abdomen, tugged at the hem of his shirt and bit her lip as she looked at him with the question in her eyes. She was afraid she was being too forward… which was ridiculous, because this was her own dream and she could do as she liked, couldn’t she? Wouldn’t her dream version of Shiro acquiesce to everything she wanted?

What he did instead was moan and close his eyes, turning his head away from her. “You’re so damn cute when you do that.”

“Do what?” she asked, not having expected this at all.

“Bite your lip like that.” He opened his eyes and looked back to her, his gaze flying immediately to her lips. “It just… I don’t know, I…” He was breathing a little faster.

“Does that mean I can take your shirt off?”

“Oh. Of course.” And he’d barely gotten the words out before she was pulling it up, over and off.

She tossed it away and helped herself to his exposed skin. No markings unless you counted the scars, but she didn’t care. Shiro was here in her bedroom, she was straddling his lap, his arms were around her, and she was caressing his bare skin wantonly, feeling the all-too-easily-broken skin that stretched over iron corded muscles.

When she slid her hands around to his back, he surged forward and kissed her again, the way he had the first time, in the daydream. She didn’t hesitate in her response now, holding him close to her as she deepened the kiss.

His hands came up, buried themselves in her hair, held her there so he could kiss her more, longer, deeper, harder. He kissed her like he was desperate for her, like he was running out of air and she was the only source of oxygen. It was intoxicating, to be wanted like this, to be _needed_ , and by someone like Shiro, who never seemed to need anything except his Lion and his team.

“I need _you_ ,” he whispered against her lips, perfectly in line with what her dream Shiro should say and do.

“You have me,” she asserted, pushing him back to her bed.~*~*~

“Wow, Shiro, you actually look good.”

He frowned. “Thanks, Keith.”

“No, I don’t mean… Well, I kind of…” He huffed at himself. “You look… uh…”

“Well-rested,” Pidge supplied. “You look like you actually _slept_.”

“Oh. Well, I did,” he answered, going to get some breakfast. “You should try it sometime, Pidge.”

“Ha ha,” she replied mirthlessly.

“Good dreams then?” Lance asked slyly.

Shiro turned abruptly. “Forgot to get a water,” he said as a cover. Yes, the _only_ reason he’d turned around was because he needed a drink and not because he was blushing at remembering exactly _how_ good his dreams had been last night.

He’d fantasized about Princess Allura before. He’d dreamed of her before, dreamed of being with her before. But not with the _clarity_ he’d had last night. And last night’s dream was not like his others, beyond the basic “going to bed with the princess.” The dream had been like making love to a real person, so much so that he’d had to launder his sheets this morning. (Thank goodness for quick Altean laundry machines!)

“No bad ones, anyway,” Hunk chimed in, and Shiro raised a silent thank you to the Yellow Paladin.

Equipped with a bowl of goo and a packet of water, he joined his team at the table. “It’s a good day to have gotten rest, too,” he said. “Because it’s _Diagnostics Day_!”

They all groaned, even Pidge.

Shiro beamed as he went on. “That’s right, stem to stern diagnostics testing of every system on the Castle.”

“Which you’re gonna skip because you’re helping the princess test her alchemy tracker thing,” Lance laid out with a somewhat accusatory tone.

“Absolutely,” he agreed, shoveling a sporkful of goo into his mouth.

“So if the princess is testing her alchemical tracker,” Pidge mused aloud, “and you’re helping her test it, that means Coran’s in charge of assignments and reports?”

He nodded and just continued eating as there were more groans.

“He once had me check the dorsal collector brackets _three times_ ,” Hunk protested. “Twice, I can understand, that’s just how you should do it, but _three_? Totally unnecessary!”

“Why do we even do this out _here_?” Keith wanted to know. “Why not on Olkarion, or some other Coalition base, instead of out here where we’re more open to attack?”

Pidge fielded that one, without looking up from her computer (as usual). “Because some systems can only be checked over while we’re in full operation or in deep space. They’d either be too dangerous to fire up on a planetside dock, or they just wouldn’t be working _at all_. Space flight is the only time we can check literally _everything_.”

Keith grumped silently; Shiro could feel the annoyance at what he felt was “busy work” wafting off of him.

So he swallowed his goo to address them. “Guys, I know it sucks. But the Castle is our… our everything. Base of operations, mobile command center, fallback position and getaway vehicle. We can’t afford for something to go wrong in the heat of battle that might have been caught and fixed earlier.

“Besides, testing with the princess won’t take all day. You guys’ll get all the easy stuff done and then I’ll be back just in time to end up elbow deep in triolic caesium node lubricant.”

They all winced, and Shiro resumed finishing off his breakfast. No one liked dealing with that stuff, and he hoped that planting that seed now would give them a little reassurance later. As in “at least I’m not dealing with node lubricant” reassurance.

“I’m going to report in,” Keith said, standing. “The sooner I start, the sooner I’m done.”

“Yeah, there is that,” Hunk agreed. “We do get the quintant off after Diagnostics Day.” Incongruous time measurements, but Lance had christened it, and everyone – even the Alteans – had liked the alliteration.

“Assuming the Galra don’t show up or something,” Lance groaned. “We’ve _never_ successfully gotten the next quintant off.”

“Cost of freeing the universe,” Shiro told him.

“Shiro,” the princess’s voice came over the comms, “when you’ve finished breakfast, let me know and report to your Lion for today’s testing.”

“Of course, Princess,” he replied dutifully. “I’ll be there soon.”

“I’m heading out,” Lance said suddenly. “If I hurry, I won’t have to check _pods_ again.”

“Coran won’t make you deal with the pods after that last time,” Hunk told him reassuringly.

“I’m not taking the chance. You guys coming?”

“In a few ticks,” Pidge replied, not looking up from her laptop as her fingers flew over the keys. “I’m just finishing up something.”

“Let me clean up the kitchen and then I’ll be right behind you,” Hunk promised.

“Soooooooooo, ‘no’ then,” Lance summed up. “Great.” He sulked out.

“I could clean up here, Hunk?” Shiro offered. _I owe you one, even if you don’t know it._

“Nah, keeping the princess waiting is _definitely_ worse than making Coran wait a bit. Besides, we’re _supposed_ to be checking everything. I may just start here on my own. I’ve been itching to run some diagnostics on the oven’s temp sensors anyway.”

“Nerd,” Pidge said.

“Geek,” he corrected with a big smile. “ _You’re_ the nerd.”

She whipped her head to him to protest that, stopped with her mouth open, then closed it and returned to her typing. “Actually, you’re right. You’re _definitely_ the geek.”

“Well, you two have fun then,” Shiro said. “I’m going to…”

“Ah ah!” Hunk snatched the bowl and spork from him. “I’ll do that!”

Shiro shrugged and let him. “Okay.” He redirected his attention to focus on contacting Allura. Altean technology just _worked_ like that: it could follow your eye, your mental focus, read your body language better than any opponent he’d ever faced, and that included the princess herself. It amazed him when he stopped to think about it… which he rarely had time to do.

“Yes?” the princess’s voice asked.

He blinked. _I… hadn’t said anything yet._ The tech normally knew where he was directing his focus – i.e., sending a message to Princess Allura – but it was still a very advanced “walkie-talkie” in a way: he had to _say something_ for it to be carried over that “channel.” And he hadn’t. She’d responded as if he had.

He snapped out of it. Maybe she’d just been expecting it? Maybe there’d been a… notification at her bridge station? He had no idea how much control she had over the Castle, how fine the detail she could bring up was. And anyway, there was work to be done.

“Heading to my Lion now, Princess.”

“Thank you, Shiro. See you out there soon.”

Allura watched as the Black Lion took off into the deep space before them. It made her heart race for some reason; probably because she only ever saw it when they were in battle, when her adrenaline was up. Her body must have formed a connection between the two events.

_Focus_.

Not that it was hard. She could still feel Shiro out there, separate from – but part of – the Black Lion.

Her connection to the Lions was similar to the feeling she was having with Shiro, except that she had to direct her attention to finding them in order to do so. But when she did, it was kind of like the link to Shiro she’d established with her alchemy: like they were leashed together almost. The “leash” felt longer between herself and the Lions; it was also, somehow, more… insistent with Shiro. As if he could tug her along on it just as easily.

Even now, part of her wanted to go out there or to call him back. She didn’t want him this far from her for some reason. But there was testing to see to, and she had been raised to keep herself in control when the situation called for it.

“Farther,” she said, before he could ask. “I can still feel you.”

“Sure it’s not just your…?”

“It’s not the link to the Lion,” she said. “I feel the Black Lion _and_ I feel you.”

“I thought you might do that.” It was voice only, but she could tell somehow that he was smiling. Her heart picked up another couple beats. “When I get out a good ways, I thought I might leave Black, just enough for us to be separate to you. See if that affects things any.”

“Excellent idea,” she agreed, unable to stop herself from smiling now. “I’ll let you know when you should do that. For now, keep going. You’re still visible on the Castle screens. I want you out of our instrument range.”

“Yes, Princess.”

They fell silent, and he moved ever farther from her, but there was still this link to him, warm and vibrant. That was another thing: the link to the Lions didn’t really have a temperature. It was purely mental, and easy to push past when she needed to, which was most of the time. _Thank the Goddess, we usually know where the Lions are most of the time now_.

But Shiro’s link was _warm_ , like a beam of sunlight hitting her in her coldest spot. And it was hard to ignore unless she got really sucked into whatever she was working on. And even _then_ , she was aware of that warm feeling, like being in a room that was hotter than the hallway. There was a marked _difference_ about it, and it was there in the background, always noticeable.

That was Shiro to her, right now. She couldn’t _quite_ ignore the link to him, and she often didn’t want to. For one thing, the warm sensation shouldn’t be happening, and Shiro’s description of his sensations when she’d activated this didn’t sound right to her, even taking into account his different physiology. Humans were very like Alteans, truth be told; the physiological differences were few (though when they did vary, they varied _a lot_ ). She wanted to know why this wasn’t acting the way the texts described.

And, more than that, it was _nice_. Not just the warmth, but the feeling of always knowing she could find the Black Paladin, her co-leader, whenever she needed to. It made her feel safe, protected, a bit steadier. Especially given the history they’d had of his going missing and/or nearly dying.

She didn’t have to worry about that. His link was strong, secure, heading out into the blackness of space as if her heart had shot a laser beam at him. She could feel it, almost see it, pulsing with her heartbeat, even though he and the Black Lion had long vanished from the viewscreens.

“Princess?”

She almost jumped at the sound of his voice, she’d been so lost in thought. “Yes, Shiro?”

“Am I far enough out?”

She glanced at her displays. “Just a little farther, please.” She looked up again. “I’m surprised you had to ask. Shouldn’t your Lion tell you?”

“Yeah, but… I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Somehow I still _feel_ like I’m close to you, despite what Black tells me.”

She didn’t know what to say to that for a few ticks, so she settled on, “Oh,” and feeling glad that Coran wasn’t here because she could feel her marks glowing a little. He’d probably meant ‘you’ to mean ‘the Castle,’ but she couldn’t help hearing it – feeling it – as if he’d meant…

“I didn’t mean the Castle. I meant _you_ , Princess.”

_How did he…?!_ She cleared her throat. “That’s… good data,” she said, trying to push down the heat in her cheeks, “and you should be far enough out now. I can feel Black if I reach for her, and I can still feel you, but you’re out of all sensor range except for our deep space scanners.”

“Right. Exiting my Lion now,” he reported.

“Don’t come towards me,” she told him, then hastily added, “or the Castle.”

“Right.” He nodded. She didn’t know _how_ she knew he nodded, but she knew he did. She shoved that aside and focused, even closing her eyes.

The Black Lion was strong when she searched for it. The Lions all felt different now that they had their paladins. Even Blue felt different, despite the fact that she’d never felt it when it was …unbonded. As the connection between paladin and Lion deepened, it changed the feeling of the bond. Black was one of the strongest, like looking at a supernova through a powerful telescope. She stood out, drew the mental equivalent of the eye.

And there was Shiro, going straight up from her, having exited from the top hatch and apparently just continued on in that direction. She reported that to him.

“You can still feel me, separate from Black? Even at this distance?”

“Yes,” she agreed. _Though I wonder…_

“Maybe that’s residual from Black?” he asked. “You can find Black easily enough, so maybe that helps you home in on me better? Or maybe Black is helping you find me.”

He was speaking exactly what had been forming in her mind. “Perhaps I should rescue a paladin from Coran, just for a quick verification?”

“Lance,” he suggested instantly. “He needs the break.”

“Very well.” She directed her attention away from Shiro and summoned Lance to his Lion for testing. She couldn’t help chuckling when he whooped for joy. She watched his Castle tracking dot move _very_ quickly towards the Blue Lion hangar.

When he was uniformed and in place, she said, “Launch and travel this vector,” as she sent him the Black Lion’s travel path (as much of it as the Castle had).

“So… straight ahead, basically,” he confirmed. The Blue Lion shot out into space only a tick or two afterwards.

“Meet up with me,” Shiro’s voice said over the comms. “When you get here, line up next to us…”

“Don’t you mean _lion_ up next to you?”

“Lance,” Allura chided at the same time Shiro did. The Blue Paladin just laughed in response.

Shiro continued, “…and then prepare for EVA.”

She didn’t know what that was, but the definition seemed to just… appear in her mind. _Extravehicular activity. Leaving one’s spaceship while not on planet_.

“You’ll understand when you get here,” Shiro was finishing up.

“Aye aye!”

She’d wondered about the paladins’ occasional repeated use of the word. It seemed strange to say it twice like that. But the answer came to her this time: _an acknowledgement of an order, and of intention to follow it._ That it was traditional in the military of their particular culture; that saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was an appropriate response to a _question_ , but not to an _order_.

It was strange to suddenly be getting all this information.

“Approaching the Black Lion,” Lance reported, and she snapped her focus back to testing. “And I see what you’re talking about now, Shiro. Lemme guess: same ‘vector’ again?”

“Yes,” Shiro replied, “if you don’t mind.”

“No problemo,” he agreed casually. “How are you doing, Princess? Missing me yet?”

She rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, Shiro piped in with, “Don’t say something like that to her; she might use us for target practice again.”

They both laughed. _Missing him as in emotionally vs. missing him as in aiming at him and not hitting my mark. A pun._ She hadn’t needed that explained, but it had come through anyway.

“Sorry,” Shiro said.

“For what?” she asked at the same time Lance did.

“Uh… nothing, nevermind. Princess, how’s the tracking?”

She closed her eyes to focus. Black, bright and strong. Blue, right next to her. Shiro, clearly some ways above Black now – he hadn’t stopped moving in all that time. But…

“I can’t find Lance,” she said, opening her eyes. “I feel the Lions, and I can still track Shiro – you can stop moving now, by the way – but I cannot ‘feel’ Lance.”

“Aw, Princess, you can feel me anyti-…”

“ ** _LANCE_** ,” she and Shiro groaned.

He just laughed, again. Was it really scolding him if he seemed to enjoy it?

“That’s enough,” she said. “Both of you, return to the Castle and resume diagnostics testing.” She had her own testing to do: she had to cycle through every system that used Sacred energy – like the teludav – and make sure they were responsive and in good working order. Doing that while maintaining her link to Shiro should be excellent testing of the drain the link might be causing her. But, in any case, she wasn’t planning to start it until both Lions – and their paladins – were back home again. Just to be safe.

Feeling Black – and Shiro – drawing near to her again, a wave of relief washed over her. She still kept her eyes glued to the screen and the Castle’s sensors, looking for any sign of an impending attack, a Galra fleet showing up, some new hideous Robeast of Haggar’s… but there was nothing.

Both Lions’ hangars opened upon their return, then closed and sealed again properly. “We’re back now, it’s okay.”

It was Shiro’s voice, but she wasn’t sure if he’d actually said it out loud or if she’d just imagined it. Regardless, it made her ease down out of the last of her worry. She raised the shields, to be safe, and said, “Welcome back,” to the both of them, before adding, in a voice less fond, “Now report to Coran for diagnostics duty.”

“Aye aye, Princess.” That was _definitely_ said out loud, over the comms. He sounded amused.

“I _can_ contact Coran and make sure you’re given node lubricant,” she warned him.

“Eh, someone has to do it,” he said. “It’s foul-smelling and disgusting, but it’s gotta get done. I might just go do it now, get it out of the way.”

“I wouldn’t,” Lance put in quickly. “Coran’s already out of sorts ‘cause Hunk didn’t follow his carefully-plotted plan. Don’t throw it off even _more_.”

Shiro sighed. “Okay, I’ll go do whatever it is Coran wants me to.” He paused. “How are you feeling, Princess? Is the tracker draining you at all?”

“Oh.” She stopped to take mental stock. “Not really? I can tell that I’m not at ‘100% power’, if you want to think of Sacred energy like that, but it’s only noticeable when I stop and think about it. I’ll re-evaluate after I do my testing, which will expend more of this energy.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need me there to break the link or whatever,” he said.

“I will. Go report in. I have to get to work.”

Diagnostics Day would have been the _perfect_ time to try to pull a surprise ‘kidnapping’ on him, but everyone was too busy to bother. They actually _did_ get the quintant after off this time, too: no attacks, no urgent messages, no diplomacy or espionage called for. And they all took advantage of it.

Shiro looked around for something useful he could be doing: some sort of training or learning… But, in the end, he decided rest was the most important. He felt almost guilty, laying down on his bunk in the middle of the quintant, but rest was something precious and rare for him. He’d dropped straight into sleep last night and couldn’t even remember if he’d dreamed or not, he’d been so exhausted. He hated to sleep _more_ after that, but unless someone asked for him, he should take advantage of the time. He laid down and closed his eyes, unsure if sleep would come.

And the next thing he knew, he was wincing away from bright lights above him. Hands from behind him took hold of his head, wrenched him back into place for the mask shoved on and tightened down painfully, cutting into the skin on the bridge of his nose. The smell of the air shifted to something strange, like… antiseptic garbage and he knew he was going to be knocked out again, and he didn’t know why and the mask was so tight on his face that he couldn’t even scream…

…she came out of it just in time to rescue the _terycia_ from burning. She pulled them out of the oven, set them on the counter to cool, and ran to Shiro’s room.

And he couldn’t even move, couldn’t even thrash within the restraints, what had they given him this time, why was he still awake, why was his nose still filled with this wretched burning smell, like too-strong bleach, why couldn’t he move, _why couldn’t he **move?!**_

“Shiro!” Allura pushed her way through the techs, laid her hand on his chest. “Shiro, it’s Allura! Please wake up. You’re okay, you’re on the Castle of Lions.”

_What?_ But ‘wake up’ resonated with him. He thought his eyes were open, but… he tried to open them anyway. And he awoke to his bunk on the Castle, to Allura kneeling next to it, concern wracking her features for just a tick until she sighed and smiled in relief.

“There you are,” she said, reaching to brush his hair back from his sweaty – _when did I start sweating?_ – forehead. “You’re okay.”

“Allura,” he croaked, and cleared his throat.

“You’re safe.”

He nodded and sat up to look around, her hand falling away from his chest. She moved, too, to sit on the edge of the bunk.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked him.

“N-no. I…” He blinked as his brain adjusted to reality. “How did you…? Was I screaming?”

“You were, but I was in the kitchen at the time. I didn’t hear you until I got much closer.”

“Then… how…?”

“I could… I _saw_ what you were dreaming,” she said, and raised her hand, two of her fingers coming to rest against her own temple. “Or… remembering, perhaps.”

“Bit of both,” he said quietly, before pursuing the matter at hand. “You _saw_ what I was dreaming?”

She nodded.

He continued, “And then, at the end, you were _in_ the dream.”

“Was I?”

He nodded insistently.

“That _is_ strange.”

“Is… is it because of the tracker link?” he asked.

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “That would explain…”

“…how I know what you’re thinking…”

“…and how I know when you wish to reach me. But I wouldn’t have thought it would extend to _dreams_ , that seems…” She stopped talking, eyes widening.

And maybe it was the link between them and maybe it was just his own realization, but it came to him all at once. **_Dreams_.** Like the one he’d had that had seemed so real… the one where…

Their eyes locked in horrified, embarrassed comprehension.

“I-I… um…” She rose from her seat on the mattress and backed away as if from a cliff edge, eyemarks _bright_ on her cheeks, even though she’d turned on the lights when she came in.

“R-right, of course!” he hurried to reassure her.

“There’s _terycia_ in the kitchen, help yourself.” And she _fled_. There was no other word for it. And what else could she do?

_That wasn’t just **my** dream,_ he said to himself. _It was hers as well._

And that was… an overwhelming thought.

She ran straight to the lab, not knowing where else to go, what else to do. She wanted privacy, but also to figure out what had gone wrong with the tracker link, because it shouldn’t do _this_ , it shouldn’t have gone this _deep_ , connected so… so _intimately._

“I did it wrong,” she said aloud, afraid to think too much right now, afraid Shiro would ‘overhear’ it. He often tried to convince her that she hadn’t made a mistake, or that it wasn’t as bad as it _obviously was_ , and perhaps he wouldn’t this time, given what this mistake had done to the both of them – “Oh, Ancients, I am _so sorry,_ Shiro!” – but she didn’t want to take that chance because this _was_ a mistake and it _was_ bad, it was a horrible invasion of privacy that he hadn’t consented to, and she had… Oh, Goddess, she’d…

“Don’t think about that,” she told herself, feeling her marks _burn_ with the shame of it. “Don’t think about what happened, think about how to _fix_ it.” She pulled up her father’s alchemical texts.

But the more she read, the less she understood. Oh, she could make out the words just fine, they made sense, she comprehended it absolutely, but… but according to this, she’d done everything right.

“Maybe I… attuned wrong?” That didn’t seem right. That was like saying you’d screwed up basic _cthellax_ maintenance by turning the _spaptinger_ the wrong way. No, something had gone wrong with the linking, she was sure of that, but this particular text didn’t mention it. It was probably something simple, something the author had expected wouldn’t or couldn’t be overlooked. But she was learning alchemy by herself, from scratch, following a legacy she’d barely paid attention to before because it hadn’t mattered then, because there’d been _so many alchemists_ , all of them more inclined to it, more interested in it, but now she was the last one left – besides Haggar – and she had to take advantage of every tool available to her, she couldn’t set it aside or ignore it and there was no one else to ask, no expert to turn to, no helping hand up when she’d fallen, no calm, deep, voice reassuring her that she’d get it, no Father to…

She crumpled to the floor of the lab, pulled her knees to her chest, and cried.

He didn’t know how to feel about this. It was a jumble in his mind. He felt like a voyeur, spying on the princess’s thoughts. He felt guilty about his own thoughts, about what she’d seen, about what he’d _done_ , even if only mentally.

Occasionally, it came back to him that he had _shared_ that dream with her. That… that at no point in the dream, when it was really her, had she pushed him away, told him no or stopped. But that was so overwhelming that he dodged around it.

Because none of that mattered right now.

He could feel Allura’s own confusion and scrambled emotions. He tried not to. He tried to focus on himself, but then a spike of sadness hit her and he just reacted, instantly: he wanted to go to her – _she’s in her lab_ – and hold her, try to hug away the heavy weight she was crying under, to support her and to let her know that she wasn’t alone in this, in anything, that he’d always be here for her, that he…

_Quiznak. **STOP**_.

He couldn’t just sit here and… and _emote_. He threw the covers off, changed into his full uniform – something about it made him feel protected, like maybe the armor would keep his own thoughts and feelings safe behind it and thus away from the princess – and headed for the training deck. He rarely thought when he was fighting, beyond the running analysis of when and where to strike or dodge next, which of his enemies was doing what, how to counter and counter-counter, etc. It was almost like meditation of a sort, and it should keep his mind occupied, away from hers. She needed privacy, and this was the only way he could think of to give it to her.

That it would keep him from thinking about all of this was a decided bonus.

But he’d barely started towards the training deck when the Full Alert sound went off. There were different types of alerts, each with a calm computer voice speaking in Altean. He didn’t know what it was saying (and the blaring alarm was so loud that his translator had trouble making out words), but he’d learned by the sounds – both the sounds the voice repeated and the sound of the alarm itself – which one was which.

Full Alert usually only meant one thing.

Shiro turned and bolted for his Lion’s hangar.

“The curse of Diagnostics Day strikes again,” Keith said as his seat pulled forward into place inside the Red Lion.

“Well, we did get the actual quintant after off this time,” Hunk pointed out, already activating the Yellow Lion (or ‘Goldie’ as he called it).

“Focus up,” Shiro told them. “I show two fleets out there, and there’s a new kind of ship I haven’t seen before. Coran?”

“Not in our databases,” the advisor reported. “Must be a new design.”

It was larger than any of the battleships they’d seen before, though still far, far smaller than Zarkon’s command ship. “Designate it Dreadnought for now until we get more info. Check with the Blades to…”

“Already sent a message along to Kolivan,” Coran said.

“Thanks. For now, they seem to be following the same battle plan.” The Galra fighters were out and harassing the Castle’s shield. “So we’ll do the same, but be alert. They’re bound to throw a wrench in somewhere.”

Their usual way of dealing with a Galra fleet was for Keith and Lance to take out fighters, Shiro and Hunk to take on the larger ships and draw fire/protect Red and Blue, and for Pidge to sneak around behind the main action and take targeted shots at prime targets. There were _two_ fleets this time, so some adaptation would be necessary even without the new Galra ship class before them.

Shiro could almost _feel_ how necessary Voltron was going to be.

As the Lions launched, Princess Allura’s voice came over the comms. “Be _very_ careful. Look for a good chance to form Voltron and take it if you can get it.”

He winced. “I’m sorry, Princess, was I…?”

“You were, a bit, but that’s also my reading of the situation,” she replied.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Hunk asked.

“The princess and I can literally read each other’s minds right now because of that tracker link,” Shiro supplied, giving them the bare bones. But before he could advise them _again_ to focus up, they were off and going.

“Whoa, that’s got to be amazing!” Lance was blown away.

“Annoying,” Pidge and Keith said at the same time.

“Bit of both,” Shiro admitted. “Fighting now, dealing with awkwardness later.” Black roared a blast at one of the battleships.

“The fleets could be escorting the larger ship,” Allura continued. “If it’s brand new, that might mean they have a shipyard close by.”

“Next target,” Shiro replied automatically.

“Yes, I know.”

“I thought Shiro and Allura could already read each other’s minds,” Pidge observed with an almost audible grin as she blasted some fighters.

“Only in combat,” Hunk answered before Shiro could. “Emotionally, they might as well be… well, _Keith_.”

“HEY!” Keith barked in outrage. He took his anger out on another few fighters.

“It’s true!!” Lance said, laughing. “Oh, it’s so, _so_ true!”

“Paladins, FOCUS!” Allura yelled over the comms.

Lance replied, “Yeah, yeah, we can kill things _and_ bug the _quiznak_ out of Keith,” and he proved it as he did so, freezing a line of fighters that Hunk promptly bashed his way through.

But a couple of large portholes opened on the unknown ship.

“Whatever that is, do _not_ be in front of it!” Shiro warned.

At the same time, he could hear Allura in his mind, even as she spoke the words to Coran: _“Strengthen the shield at the front of the Castle!”_ Because the Lions were (relatively) small, agile targets; they could dodge away from whatever blast came out of that ship. The Castle could not.

The… barrels, he assumed, of the weapons began to glow and then…

He felt like he’d been punched with an electric cattle prod. The pain hit hard and then arced from one part of his body to another to another… No. No, it took him a bit, but he realized that it hadn’t hit _him_ , it’d hit _Black_.

_The weapon was causing his **Lion** pain._

And the pain was transferring to him. It was hard to focus through the jagged torment, but he could feel Black trying _not_ to send it along, trying desperately to keep it to herself.

And he, in turn, did his best not to send it along to Allura.

_But how did I even get hit? I wasn’t…_

He pulled away from the large ship, moved further back and to one side and managed not to get hit by the next blast. And now he could see what it was.

It was like… laser lightning. Once it reached a certain distance from the ship, it split into jagged forks, seeking targets the way an electrical charge sought to ground itself. It was that sickly purple-pink of Haggar’s magic, too, which explained how it could hurt the Lions in the first place.

_Forming Voltron may not work against this thing_ , he thought. _It just makes us an even bigger target._

It was distant, but she could feel it. Shiro in pain and then confused. The electrical burning sensation subsided, but then the confusion only increased.

The arc laser could briefly interrupt the integrity of the Castle’s shield, opening small holes. But, so far, it wasn’t doing much _damage_ to the Castle, and they hadn’t started taking advantage of the openings to fire conventional weapons. No, this new weapon was made to combat the _Lions_ , clearly – and it was doing an excellent job of it!

She didn’t need Shiro’s thoughts about the futility of forming Voltron; her own analysis came to much the same conclusion. But her thoughts raced ahead of his, already working on a solution. He was too distracted by the pain of his Lion and his team, by his attempts to shut her out…

_Don’t_ , she said to him.

_“What?”_

_Don’t shut me out. You need me._

A flood of feelings and half-started thoughts came through this link they had to each other. She forded her way through them.

_That weapon is magic. Perhaps we can use this link to our advantage._

The flood abated, held back by the dam of his focus. _“I’m all ears, Princess.”_

She couldn’t help it; the thought came: _And hideous ones at that._

 _“They’re not **that** bad, are they?” _His amusement came through with his words.

 _They’ve grown on me,_ she admitted, smiling. _But here’s what I think we can do…_

The team had a number of responses to his suggestion they form Voltron, most of them along the lines of, “Are you crazy?”

“I’ve got this link to the princess,” he reminded them, “and she’s got a plan.”

They all tried their best to dodge out of the way of another strike.

“Nnngh! That _hurts_!” Hunk cried out.

“It can recharge and fire so _fast_ ,” Pidge said in exasperation. She sounded out of breath.

“ _Form Voltron_ ,” Shiro insisted. “It’s our only hope of taking that thing out.”

“Won’t it just hurt even more when we get hit?” Lance asked.

“We’ll find out. Come on!”

She waited until the Lions had transformed and slotted themselves into place, until the five of them were now one. And then she closed her eyes and tapped into the link to Shiro.

She could feel _all_ of them now, though the other four paladins were distant, more like seeing someone at the other end of a room than standing right next to them. She could feel the quintessence that filled them, that connected them to each other, to their Lions, to Voltron.

She focused on Shiro, on his hands on the controls. She opened herself to him fully, hid nothing from him. Keeping secrets was detrimental to forming Voltron, after all; it certainly wouldn’t help with what she had in mind.

He would know. He’d know everything, and there’d be no hiding after this.

But what was a little heartbreak compared to the universe?

And then the warmth of him filled her in return. Eyes still closed, she smiled, but she kept going. There’d be time for that later, afterwards. Now was the time to fight.

She opened her eyes.

And they glowed.

Voltron flew towards the Galra Dreadnought. The arc laser glowed as it charged up and fired straight at it, a large, impossible-to-miss target.

The laser crackled as it met a blue-white shield, formed around Voltron like a second skin.

Back on the Castle, Allura winced, but she didn’t stop channeling.

Her power flowed through her link to Shiro, through his hands into Voltron. She absorbed the arc laser blast, even though it hurt like hot needles all over her. She took it in and used it to make the shield even more powerful.

By the time the second shot hit, it didn’t even hurt any more. She absorbed that one as well.

The third hit bounced off harmlessly, and then Voltron’s sword was slicing through the weapon effortlessly.

It exploded, and she used the last of the shield to protect Voltron from the blast. It knocked the robot backwards towards the Castle, but it and everyone within was safe.

After that, it was business as usual, aside from the Galra battleships fleeing a bit sooner than they might have otherwise. The mighty robot disbanded back into its constituent Lions, and they returned to their hangars.

“That _sucked_ ,” Lance declared. “I think we should get another quintant off just for having to deal with that.”

“The princess doesn’t decide when we get days off,” Keith pointed out. “The _Galra_ decide that.”

“We just sliced and diced their new toy,” Pidge replied, that crooked smile of hers practically audible. “Maybe that’ll knock ‘em back a bit.”

“We’ll have to see,” Shiro said. “You know your post-battle duties. Get to ‘em.” And, in his mind, he said, _We’re going to have to have a chat, aren’t we?_

_“Whenever you’re ready.”_

He thought about that. _Come to the hangar_ , he decided. The paladins would be busy with their own Lions, and Coran would be manning the bridge. Shiro didn’t want to put this off any longer, and he could get his own checklist done while handling this in just about the only place on the ship he could maintain any privacy.

_“I can ensure privacy in any room on the Castle,”_ she reminded him, echoing his own thoughts.

_I still have things to get done._

_“You’re not really going to be working on that while I’m down there, are you?”_

She knew he wasn’t. _No, but I can work on them until you arrive._

The mental equivalent of a chuckle. _“Very well.”_ He could feel her approval of his work ethic, his desire to make sure everything went smoothly and to hold himself to the same standard as the rest of his team.

He could also feel the increasing nervousness… or maybe that was his own.

He didn’t bother trying to keep his thoughts or feelings separate from her now. It was pointless. They’d… _merged_ during the battle. It was the only way to think of it. Her power had flowed through him, and her thoughts and feelings were laid bare. He knew that went both ways. This wasn’t just syncing; they had – as much as two physical beings could – inhabited the same space and time. So it was pointless to hide anything now.

He checked Black’s systems. It was rote now, and even if it weren’t, Black knew the routine as well – if not better – than he did. She queued the system checks and everything cleared quickly, smoothly. He didn’t have to think about it, really, so he thought about… about what to say, how to say it.

She was a princess.

She was Sacred.

She was an alchemist.

He had to do this the right way, had to do it perfectly.

He climbed out of Black, removed his helmet. The princess’s end of the link they shared was …amused and drawing closer. He took a deep breath and set about exterior checks.

He’d just finished his notes when the door of the hangar opened for her. He took another deep breath, set the pad down, and turned to face her. She was walking towards him with a knowing smile.

He cleared his throat. “Princess Allura, I…”

She walked right up to him, took hold of his face in both hands, and kissed him.

And that said everything.

He didn’t know how long he spent kissing her, except that it wasn’t enough. He didn’t know when he’d embraced her, except that it had taken him too long.

She laid her forehead against his.

“Did you shift to be taller?” he asked.

“Mm,” she agreed. “I didn’t want anything about this to be awkward.”

“What do we do about the tracker link?”

“I’ll remove it. Eventually.”

He grinned. “Did you figure out why it did this?”

She nodded. “I think I did.” She pulled away to smile at him. “It’s just a theory though.”

“I want to hear it.”

“I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you, too.”

“And establishing that little link…”

“Linked us in other ways,” he finished for her.

She nodded.

He rubbed his nose against hers, explained it without words since the link was still active.

She nuzzled back before hugging him to her tightly. Not too tightly. Then she said, “I think that, even if I remove the active tracker link, some synchronicity might remain.”

“I might like that.” But then he remembered something and added, “Except for the nightmares.”

“I can help you with yours,” she offered, “if you’ll help me with mine.”

“Of course.” He pulled away just enough to kiss the side of her face. “But speaking of dreams…”

She chuckled. “I don’t own anything like I was wearing in That Dream,” she told him. “Other than that, everything that happened in it is well within my capabilities and desires.”

He felt his face start to heat. “Well, I suppose I can make that small allowance.”

“I suppose I’ll just have to wear nothing instead,” she said with more nonchalance than she felt.

“I can _definitely_ handle that.”

She laughed, and he thought, _I love hearing you laugh._

And she kissed him again in response.


End file.
